Today is Local News Day. More than 1,300 newsrooms across all 50 states are showing up for it. States including Colorado and North Carolina have issued formal proclamations. So have cities and counties from Helena, Mont., to Waltham, Mass. It is, by any measure, a genuine national moment for local journalism — and What’sUpNewp is part of it.
We were among the first 100 newsrooms in the country to sign on. That wasn’t a hard call.
What’sUpNewp has been covering Newport and Newport County since March 2012. Over more than 14 years, we’ve shown up for this community through elections and storms, openings and closings, celebrations and hard conversations. We’ve covered city hall, the waterfront, the schools, the neighborhoods, and the people who make this place what it is. That work has always been rooted in a simple belief: Newport deserves journalism that takes it seriously.
Here’s what more than 14 years of doing this work has taught me about why local news matters:
The decisions that most directly affect your daily life are made locally. Who sits on the school committee. What gets built on the waterfront. How your tax dollars get spent. Where public safety resources go. None of that makes national headlines. All of it shapes your life. Local reporters — the ones embedded in their communities, attending the meetings, reading the budgets, knocking on the doors — are the ones keeping civic leaders honest. Without them, accountability doesn’t just weaken. It disappears at the level where it matters most.
Local newsrooms also do something no algorithm can replicate. We tell the stories that define a place — its identity, its culture, its history. We create the shared set of facts that allows neighbors to disagree without disconnecting. In a national media environment that too often sorts people into camps, local news is common ground. It’s where the story isn’t red versus blue. It’s what’s happening right here, and what it means for your family.
That’s why Local News Day exists. And that’s why, when the organizers came looking for early partners, I didn’t hesitate.
The goals for today are ambitious: 1 million new subscriptions and email signups for local newsrooms nationwide, 2 million Americans driven directly to local news websites, and more than 1 billion social media impressions. Those are national numbers. Our number is simpler — we want more Newport County residents reading What’sUpNewp by the end of today than were reading it this morning.
Local news works best when it’s part of the fabric of the community it serves. Every reader, tip, conversation, and subscription helps make that possible. Which brings me to you.
Today, I’m asking you to take one — or all — of these steps:
Forward this. Send this newsletter to one person in Newport County who isn’t reading us yet. A neighbor. A coworker. Someone who keeps meaning to stay more informed but hasn’t found the right place to start.
Become a paid supporter. What’sUpNewp has been here for more than 14 years, and that’s only possible because some readers choose to invest in it. If that’s you, today is a great day to make it official.
Subscribe. If someone forwarded you this and you’re not yet on our list, welcome. Sign up and get Newport County’s news delivered to your inbox.
Follow us on social media. Find us at @whatsupnewp on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and X.
And if you have family or friends in other cities who’ve lost touch with their local press, send them to localnewsday.org. The Local News Finder lets anyone search by ZIP code, city, or state to discover verified local newsrooms near them — and subscribe, donate, or follow directly from there.
Start local. Stay connected.
Newport has a lot going on. It always has. And as long as this community generates news, What’sUpNewp will be here to cover it.
Thank you for reading.
Ryan Belmore
Owner & Publisher, What’sUpNewp
